Al Qaeda's foiled plot!
Interesting Article: "Algeria foils Qaeda attempt to attack foreign ships sailing in the Mediterranean" by Al Arabiya / Algeria published Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
An interesting article mentioned that Algerian security foiled a terrorist al-Qaeda plot to carry out suicidal attacks on U.S. and European ships in the Mediterranean from the eastern costs of Algeria. The aborted plan, which was to be implemented by al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, aimed at destabilizing Algerian national economy as well as attracting expansive media coverage, sources told the Algerian newspaper Echorouk. According to the sources, a cell working under the leadership of the spokesman of al-Qaeda’s wing in the Maghreb Qassemi Salah al-Din, also known as Mohamed Abu Salah, is behind the plot. So who is Mohamed Abu Salah?
The cell, sources add, purchased a boat with a powerful engine and was planning to load it with explosives. A suicidal operative was to sail with the boat towards the targeted foreign ships. The terrorist who was to carry out the operation was granted the right to choose the target. Available information denote that one of the suspects, called H. Rabeh and currently detained by Algerian authorities, got in touch with a man nicknamed Abbie, wanted by authorities, and who is known for his activities in illegal immigration. The abortion of the terrorist plot dealt a severe blow to al-Qaeda in the Maghreb especially that the suspects’ confessions confirmed that they dealt directly with Abu Mohamed Salah, judicial sources told Echorouk.
According to the investigations, members of the now disbanded cell were originally recruited by now detained terrorist A. Soufian, also known as Abu Muslim al-Jazaeiri and who also hails from Annaba. Soufian was in touch with terrorist Daghdagh Ahmed, also known as Abdel Illah, the head of the political and foreign relations committee in al-Qaeda. Based on the detainees’ confessions, Soufian is trusted in all Jihadist forums for the inciting articles he posts on websites popular among Jihadists especially Menbar al-Tawhid and al-Jihad, run by Abu Mohamed al-Maqdissi, one of the most prominent jihadists known for inciting terrorist activists.
The planned attack by North Africa’s Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb mirrored the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 American sailors. The group planned to strike U.S. and European vessels off the northeastern coast of Algeria, but the exact targets would be selected by the doomed attackers, Echorouk reported. The group’s broader goals were media attention and paralysis of the Algerian economy, according to the newspaper.
The Al Qaeda affiliate has waged a guerilla war against Algeria’s government for close to a decade, carrying out ambushes, bombings and kidnappings-for-ransom. At a regional conference Tuesday, Malian Foreign Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga said there was a “confirmed link” between AQIM and Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram, Agence France-Presse reported. Boko Haram has waged a campaign of bombings against Nigeria’s government and its Christian population, including Christmas strikes on Catholic churches that killed 41 people, and attacks this month that claimed more than 200 lives.
References:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/algeria-squashes-al-qaeda-plan-attack-u-s-ships-article-1.1011378
An interesting article mentioned that Algerian security foiled a terrorist al-Qaeda plot to carry out suicidal attacks on U.S. and European ships in the Mediterranean from the eastern costs of Algeria. The aborted plan, which was to be implemented by al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, aimed at destabilizing Algerian national economy as well as attracting expansive media coverage, sources told the Algerian newspaper Echorouk. According to the sources, a cell working under the leadership of the spokesman of al-Qaeda’s wing in the Maghreb Qassemi Salah al-Din, also known as Mohamed Abu Salah, is behind the plot. So who is Mohamed Abu Salah?
The cell, sources add, purchased a boat with a powerful engine and was planning to load it with explosives. A suicidal operative was to sail with the boat towards the targeted foreign ships. The terrorist who was to carry out the operation was granted the right to choose the target. Available information denote that one of the suspects, called H. Rabeh and currently detained by Algerian authorities, got in touch with a man nicknamed Abbie, wanted by authorities, and who is known for his activities in illegal immigration. The abortion of the terrorist plot dealt a severe blow to al-Qaeda in the Maghreb especially that the suspects’ confessions confirmed that they dealt directly with Abu Mohamed Salah, judicial sources told Echorouk.
According to the investigations, members of the now disbanded cell were originally recruited by now detained terrorist A. Soufian, also known as Abu Muslim al-Jazaeiri and who also hails from Annaba. Soufian was in touch with terrorist Daghdagh Ahmed, also known as Abdel Illah, the head of the political and foreign relations committee in al-Qaeda. Based on the detainees’ confessions, Soufian is trusted in all Jihadist forums for the inciting articles he posts on websites popular among Jihadists especially Menbar al-Tawhid and al-Jihad, run by Abu Mohamed al-Maqdissi, one of the most prominent jihadists known for inciting terrorist activists.
The planned attack by North Africa’s Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb mirrored the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 American sailors. The group planned to strike U.S. and European vessels off the northeastern coast of Algeria, but the exact targets would be selected by the doomed attackers, Echorouk reported. The group’s broader goals were media attention and paralysis of the Algerian economy, according to the newspaper.
The Al Qaeda affiliate has waged a guerilla war against Algeria’s government for close to a decade, carrying out ambushes, bombings and kidnappings-for-ransom. At a regional conference Tuesday, Malian Foreign Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga said there was a “confirmed link” between AQIM and Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram, Agence France-Presse reported. Boko Haram has waged a campaign of bombings against Nigeria’s government and its Christian population, including Christmas strikes on Catholic churches that killed 41 people, and attacks this month that claimed more than 200 lives.
References:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/algeria-squashes-al-qaeda-plan-attack-u-s-ships-article-1.1011378
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